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The Sverdrup balance, or Sverdrup relation, is a theoretical relationship between the wind stress exerted on the surface of the open ocean and the vertically integrated meridional (north-south) transport of ocean water.
The law of water balance states that the inflows to any water system or area is equal to its outflows plus change in storage during a time interval. [ 2 ] [ 3 ] In hydrology , a water balance equation can be used to describe the flow of water in and out of a system.
Ocean dynamics define and describe the flow of water within the oceans. Ocean temperature and motion fields can be separated into three distinct layers: mixed (surface) layer, upper ocean (above the thermocline), and deep ocean. Ocean dynamics has traditionally been investigated by sampling from instruments in situ. [1]
This is a major process in the ocean and without vertical migration it wouldn't be nearly as efficient. The deep ocean gets most of its nutrients from the higher water column when they sink down in the form of marine snow. This is made up of dead or dying animals and microbes, fecal matter, sand and other inorganic material.
The water transport in the Gulf Stream gradually increases from 30 Sv in the Florida Current to a maximum of 150 Sv south of Newfoundland at 55° W longitude. [4] The Antarctic Circumpolar Current, at approximately 125 Sv, is the largest ocean current. [5] The entire global input of fresh water from rivers to the ocean is approximately 1.2 Sv. [6]
The Ekman layer is the layer in a fluid where the flow is the result of a balance between pressure gradient, Coriolis and turbulent drag forces. In the picture above, the wind blowing North creates a surface stress and a resulting Ekman spiral is found below it in the column of water.
An example of a geostrophic flow in the Northern Hemisphere. A northern-hemisphere gyre in geostrophic balance; paler water is less dense than dark water, but more dense than air; the outwards pressure gradient is balanced by the 90 degrees-right-of-flow coriolis force The structure will eventually dissipate due to friction and mixing of water properties.
Vagn Walfrid Ekman (3 May 1874 – 9 March 1954) was a Swedish oceanographer. [1]Born in Stockholm to Fredrik Laurentz Ekman, himself an oceanographer, he became committed to oceanography while studying physics at the University of Uppsala and, in particular, on hearing Vilhelm Bjerknes lecture on fluid dynamics.